Automatic sewing machine

ABSTRACT

An automatic sewing machine having a laterally moving carriage. The sewing machine is of the pressure foot type and as it operates an apparel supported on the laterally moving carriage, it forces the carriage to move. The sewing machine and carriage are adapted to sew continuous stitches on the apparel and driving means are provided cooperating with the sewing machine to move the carriage longitudinally to the next row to be stitched in accordance with a pattern being followed.

United States Patent [72] Inventors Icchok Majer Berman 31 17 Brighton Avenue;

Lorenzo Brunozzi, 4243 Delorimier Street;

Rejean DeGuire, 6285 Louis Hebert Street, all of Montreal, Quebec, Canada Mar. 17, 1969 Aug. 17, 1971 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 646,994, June 19, 1967, now abandoned.

[21 Appl. No. [22] Filed [45] Patented [54] AUTOMATIC SEWING MACHINE 11 Claims, 10 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl ll2/l2l.l2 [51] Int. Cl D0511 21/00 [50] Field ofSearch ..ll2/l2l.l2, 121.14, 121.15, 102, 11 8, 139

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,812,368 6/1931 Popkin 112/121. 14

2,518,147 8/1950 Johnson et al..... 2,667,849 2/1954 Rohrlick et al. 1 12/139 X 2,865,316 12/1958 Fergot 1l2/l2l.15 3,001,489 9/1961 Bond et a1 112/l21.12 3,009,428 11/1961 Coolidge 1l2/121.14 3,034,458 5/1962 Bennison.. 1l2/121.12 3,042,171 7/1962 Rose..... 112/102 X 3,336,886 8/1967 Cash ll2/l21.l5

FOREIGN PATENTS 677,530 8/1952 Great Britain ll2/l2l.l4

Primary Examiner-Alfred R. Guest AttorneyAlan Swabey ABSTRACT: An automatic sewing machine having a laterally moving carriage. The sewing machine is of the pressure foot type and as it operates an apparel supported on the laterally moving carriage, it forces the carriage to move. The sewing machine and carriage are adapted to sew continuous stitches on the apparel and driving means are provided cooperating with the sewing machine to move the carriage longitudinally to the nextrow to be stitched in accordance with a pattern being followed.

PATENTED nus: 1 Ian SHEET 1 UF 4 INVENTORS lcchok Meier HERMAN Lorenzo BRUNOZZI Reiean DEGUIRE FIG. 4

ATTORNEY PATENTEDAUGIIIBII 3,599,5 3

' sum 2 or 4 7 'F/GI5 T as Z9 22 I I I INVENTORS lcchok Muie'r BERMAN Lorenzo BRUNOZZI Reicon DEGUIRE A TTORNE Y? PATENTED AUBI'HH?! 3,599,583

SHEET 8 OF 4 INVENTORS lcchok Meier BERMAN Lorenzo BRUNOZZI Reiean DEGUIRE A TTORNEY AUToMATIc SEWING M CHI E v v CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a continuation-in-part application of application Ser. No. 646,994, filed June 19, 1967 now abandoned.

' BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 1. Field of Invention This invention relates to sewing machines and more particularly to an apparatus having means for feeding a workpiece to the sewing machine and following a predetermined pattern to be sewn.

2. Description of Prior Art In the manufacture of inner linings suitable for use in wear-' ing apparel, a plurality of fabrics previously cut are superimposed together and a series of close parallel stitches are applied to the fabric. These stitches are made to a predetermined pattern, and besides retaining the plies' together, they lend stiffness to the fabric. Heretofore, the sewing of these stitches was done on a high-speed sewing machine and the plies of fabric were held by hand in order to guide the stitching to suit the particular pattern requested. Since the operation must be done with speed and accuracy, the operator must be trained, and it has been found that only a fraction of those who receive the training really develop the skills required for this type of operation. Therefore, the labor required is scarce and expensive. Furthermore, it has been found that it is very difficult to make a consistent pattern by hand without causing puckering.

The pattern can vary from job to job; automation of such an operation was considered too costly since the automation would require programming an electronic device to control the machine to do the stitching according to the varying patterns.

I SUMMARY OF INVENTION An aim of the present invention is to provide an automatic sewing machine which could make the above-mentioned operations with the least man-hour consumption, yet without the use of highly sophisticated and costly programming units.

A further aim of the invention is to make a stitched lining having a consistent pattern.

A construction in accordance with the present invention comprises an apparatus for sewing a predetermined pattern of parallel stitches on workpiece, comprising a frame, a sewing machine mounted longitudinally of the frame, a workpiecesupporting carriage mounted on the frame for lateral movement in cooperation with the sewing machine; means for reversing the operation of the sewing machine when a parallel stitch of the predetermined pattern has been completed, means for lifting the pressure foot of the sewing machine when it is reversing, means for advancing the carriage longitudinally proportional to the distance of the next parallel stitch to be sewn and means lowering the pressure foot once the carriage has moved longitudinally and the machine has been reversed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Having thus generally described the nature of the invention, particular reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferredembodiment of the invention,

and in which;

FIG. 6 is a horizontal cross section taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross section taken along line 4-7 of FIG. 5, but showing the carriage at a lateral limit; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the electrical pneumatic circuit of the apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the electrical pneumatic circuit of the apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view of a detail of the apparatus shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view of a further detail of the apparatus as shown in FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, and specifically to FIG. 1, the sewing machine 10 is shown mounted on a frame 12. The frame includes a tabletop l6 and a subframe 28. A carriage 14 is provided which is adapted to move freely in a direction lateral with respect to the axis of the sewing machine on the tabletop 16. A workpiece 15, which includes superimposed plies of material to be stitched, is placed on the carriage 14.

Below the tabletop 16 is positioned a pivoting pendulum 18 which is mounted between limit switches 20, 22, 24 and 26 as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 6.

A pair of toothed tracks 30 are mounted longitudinally of the subframe 28. The carriage 14 includes an undercarriage 32 which has toothed wheels 34 adapted to cooperate with the toothed track 30. The undercarriage 32 includes laterally extending inverted T-track members 36. Track wheels 38 are mounted on the carriage proper and move freely on the inverted track members 36. The movement is of very low friction due to the freely mounted wheels supporting the carriage 14 relative to the undercarriage 32. The carriage 14 includes a carriage upper platform 42 and a carriage lower platform 44. A hinged cover including hinges 47 is adapted for pivoting movement relative to the platform 42. An opening 48 is located in the carriage platform 42 which has the general outline of most patterns to be used on the particular machine. An identical pattern opening 49 is also provided in the hinge cover 46. Spikes 50 are located about the opening 48 on the carriage platform 42 and receiving holes 5l are provided in the cover.

On the carriage bottom platform 44, a pair of stationary gates 54 and 54a are securely mounted to the platform 44. However, these stationary gates 54 and 540 can be adjusted to suit the size of the pattern. In the present embodiment, a pair of solenoid gates 56 and 56a are also provided on the bottom platform 44 and these include a movable tongue which can project from the body thereof. These solenoid gates 56 and 56a are connected to limit switches 90 (only shown in the schematic drawings). The limit switch 90 is positioned on the track 30 and movement of the carriage will effect the actuation of the solenoid gates 56 and 56a.

One of the toothed wheels 34 is connected to a ratchet 58 which is in turn operated by a cylinder and piston 60. The cylinder and piston 60 is operated by a solenoid valve 61 which will be described hereinafter. The cylinder and piston 60 are mounted on a bracket 62 extending from the undercarriage 32. An automatic clutch 64 is located on the subframe 28 and is linked to a manual pedal 66 by means of linking arms 68, and the pedal 66 to the drive pulley by means of a linking arm 69. The drive can be fed from drive shaft 96 to the sewing machine 10 by means of the clutch 64.

As shown in FIGS. 5, 7, 8 and 9, a cylinder and piston 72 is vertically mounted on the subframe 28 and is connected to the sewing machine reversing arm 75 by means of a piston rod 74. A collar 76 is mounted on the piston rod 74. Adjacent the piston rod 74 are a pair of limit switches 78 and 80 which are aligned in such a way so as to be contacted alternately by the collar 76.

As in all sewing machines, a pressure foot 82 is provided which cooperates with the sewing machine needle. When it is desired to change the sewing operation, the pressure foot which is normally manually operated as by lever 75 which is lifted. In the present construction, cylinder 84 and piston 86 operate by means of solenoid valve 85 to lift and lower the pressure foot 82 on the machine. Lever 75 is not used but shaft 83 is linked with the pressure foot 82 mechanism. The piston 86 is connected to lever 87. The lever 87 is fixed to a rotatable Shaft 83 (shown in FIGS. 7 and 10) which is linked to the conventional sewing machine, and which is rotated by lever 87 to lift or lower the pressure foot 82. The piston rod 86 also pivots lever 87 which, when the pivot rod 86 is at its full extent, contacts limit switch 88. The limit switch 88 is mounted by a bracket to the cylinder 84 and is adapted to be closed by the lever 87. The limit switch 88 in turn actuates the solenoid valve 61 the operation of which will be described hereinafter.

The solenoid valves which are not shown in the figures are conveniently located on a box mounted on the rear of the machine.-

A final shutoff switch 92 is located on the track 30 and is adapted to shut off the machine by energizing the clutch 64 and to cut the main current fed to the apparatus when the unsw sfilisin swas ith OPERATION As previously described, workpiece is normally made of a plurality of plies of fabric, and it is required to provide a pattern of zigzag (or straight) parallel stitches somewhat follow-- ing the pattern shown in FIG. 2. The plies, making up the workpiece 15, are first positioned on the platform 42 over the spikes 50 so that they are suspended in the opening 48. The hinge cover 46 is then closed over the workpiece 15 and the carriage is adjusted so that the needle of the machine 10 is at a starting position at the extreme right-hand side of the pattern to start the first stitch 94a shown in FIG. 2. In this case, the carriage is at its full extent in a position towards the operator opposite that shown in FIG. 7.

When the carriage is in this position, and the sewing machine 10 is ready to sew in the rearward direction, the piston rod 74 will be in a position contracted into the cylinder 72 and the collar 76 will be in a position in contact with the limit switch 78. Therefore, the limit switch 78 will be open, as shown in FIG. 8, while limit switch 80 will be in a closed position, completing the circuit to limit switch 22 through to solenoid valve 85.

Once the current is on and the clutch is operated so that the drive shaft 96 will feed the drive to the sewing machine, the needle will begin to stitch, and the reaction of the conventional feeding mechanism including the feed dogs and pressure foot 82 of the sewing machine on the fabric will push the friction-free carriage l4 rearwardly, that is, away from the operator. Of course, while sewing, the pressure foot 82 is in a down position. I

As the needle is about to complete the stitch 94a, the pendulum 18 trips on the stationary gate 54a and contacts the limit switches 22 and 24. The circuit is then completed and a signal is sent to the solenoid valve 73 from switch 24 which allows air to go into the pressure side of the cylinder 72 to force the piston rod 74 to move upwardly to force the arm 75 of the sewing machine 10 to reverse the direction of sewing on the machine. Also the collar 76 releases the limit switch 78 which is then closed and opens the limit switch 80 cutting the current from the limit switch 22. However, before this happens, a signal has been sent from the limit switch 22 through to the solenoid valve 85, which forces air into the pressure side of the cylinder 84 to force the piston rod 86 to pivot lever 87, shaft 83 and thus the pressure foot 82 on the sewing machine 10, by means of lever 83. At the same time, the lever 87 is pivoted to contact the limit switch 88, which in turn sends a signal to the solenoid valve 61, which allows air to enter the pressure side of the cylinder 60 and activate the ratchet 58 to move the toothed wheels 34 a few notches. This movement corresponds to the distance between stitch 94a and 94b shown in FIG. 2.

Of course, as the limit switch 80 is open, the current is stopped to the solenoid valve 85 which is spring loaded to return to its original position, thus releasing the air pressure to the pressure side and forcing the piston in cylinder 84 to return to its original position and activating the lever 83in FIGS. 7 and 10 to return the pressure foot 82 to a down position. Also, as the lever 87 is brought back to its originalposition, the limit switch 88 is open, which similarly forces the solenoid valve 61 to return to its original position, the piston rod in the cylinder 60 to retract. However, the piston rod 74 which has been pushed outwardly from the cylinder 72 which is in turn operated by the two-way solenoid valve 73, remains in its upward position, the collar 76 in contact with the limit switch 80. The limit switch 26 is now connected with the solenoid valve 85 through the closed limit switch 78 and is, therefore, in a ready position.

Of course, when the carriage 14 was moved slightly, by the action of the ratchet 58, the needle of the sewing machine came into contact with the fabric at the new stitch line 94b.

' The pressure foot 82 was brought down against the feed dogs of the sewing machine as described above; and, since the sewing machine operation of the feed dogs had been reversed, the needle immediately continues sewing its zigzag path in a forward direction. The carriage 14 is then forced by the action of the feed dogs to move in a direction towards the operator from a position somewhat as shown in FIG. 7.

As the stitch 94b is almost completed, the pendulum 18' trips on the stationary gate 55 and comes into contact with the switches 20 and 26. Since the switch 78 is now closed, a signal limit switch is closed by the undercarriage 32. The operation of these gates can be varied by moving the switches at various places on the track.

As the carriage is advanced longitudinally to a position where the pattern is almost completed, the carriage 14 will come into contact with the limit switch 92 which will operate to cut the electrical circuit, thus stopping the machine, and to disengage the driving band from the drive shaft 96. The machine can now only be started by an operator when he comes along to change the workpiece 15 on the machine.

It should also be noted that the pneumatic system could be substituted by a completely electrical, electronic or hydraulic system or other mechanical equivalent without departing from the nature of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for sewing a predetermined pattern of spaced parallel continuous rows of stitches on a workpiece comprising a frame, a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle and an associated fabric feed dog mounted in a first axis on the frame; a workpiece-supporting carriage mounted on the frame for low friction movement parallel to a second axis transversal to said first axis by means of the gripping of the workpiece by the feed dogs of the sewing machine, power means for shifting the carriage in the first axis of the frame when a predetermined point in a row of stitches of the pattern has been completed for advancing the carriage in the first axis corresponding to the predetermined distance to the next continuous parallel row of stitches to be sewn, and means for reversing the operation of the sewing machine and feed dogs.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein means are included for lifting the feed dogs of the sewing machine when it is reversing and means are provided for lowering the feed dogs once the carriage has been advanced to the next stitch line and the machine reversed.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the frame includes a working table and a subframe spaced below the working table and the sewing machine is mounted on the working table longitudinally thereof.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein the subframe includes a pair of parallel tracks lying longitudinally and the supporting carriage is adapted for controlled movement in the first axis by said power means for shifting the carriage, the carriage also comprises a portion thereof, which is adapted for friction-free movement parallel to the second axis relative to the tracks and includes a platform extending over the working table in cooperation with the sewing machine.

5. An apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein drive means are provided for advancing the supporting carriage in the first axis direction, while said portion thereof is adapted for substantially friction-free movement parallel to the second axis in response to the force of the feed dogs of the sewing machine.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein the portion of the workpiece-supporting carriage which is adapted for movement parallel to the second axis mounts a hinged workpieceretaining member adapted to retain the workpiece in a position with suitable tension for receiving the reciprocating needle and the feed dogs of the sewing machine and transmit the reaction from the feed dogs to the carriage.

7. An apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein there is provided a first electrical valve-operated motor mounted on the frame and lever on the sewing machine adapted to reverse the operation of the machine wherein the means for reversing the operation of the sewing machine includes first and second limit switches on the frame a gate mounted on the carriage which is adapted for movement parallel to the second axis, the gate is adapted to trip the limit switches the gate being adjusted to a position on the carriage relative to the limit switches which corresponds to a predetermined point in a row of stitches of the predetermined pattern on the workpiece; the

thus tripped limit switches allowing an electrical signal to activate the electrical valve-operated motor mounted on the frame to actuate the sewing machine reversing lever.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein means are provided for lifting the feed dogs on the sewing machine when the operation of the machine is being reversed, said means including the second limit switch, a second electric valveoperated motor connected to the feed-dog-reversing lever, the second motor is operated by a signal from said second limit switch.

9. An apparatus as defined in claim 8 wherein the means for advancing the carriage along said first axis includes a third electrically operated motor, a unidirectional means intermittently activated by the third electrical valve-operated motor, a track-engaging wheel mounted on the carriage adapted to engage the track, said third motor and unidirectional means driving said wheel; a limit switch which is triggered by the said first-mentioned valve-operated motor, said latter limit switch being adapted to control the operation of the second electrical valve operated motor.

10. An apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein a limit switch is provided between the carriage and the frame and is adapted to be contacted at a predetermined advance position of the carriage along the first axis, the gates are solenoidoperated gates which reciprocate in a direction substantially perpendicular to the second axis in order to effect the reversal of the sewing machine, the solenoid gates are operated by a current received through the limit switch which has been closed or opened by the advancing movement of the supporting carriage along the first axis.

11. An apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein opposed pairs of said first and second limit switches are arranged in a quadrant, a pendulum rod is suspended from the table centrally of the quadrant formed by the limit switches, said rod ada ted to be trip ed by said gates said switches are adapted to e contacted y said pen ulum when said pendulum is tripped by one of the gates. 

1. An apparatus for sewing a predetermined pattern of spaced parallel continuous rows of stitches on a workpiece comprising a frame, a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle and an associated fabric feed dog mounted in a first axis on the frame; a workpiece-supporting carriage mounted on the frame for low friction movement parallel to a second axis transversal to said first axis by means of the gripping of the workpiece by the feed dogs of the sewing machine, power means for shifting the carriage in the first axis of the frame when a predetermined point in a row of stitches of the pattern has been completed for advancing the carriage in the first axis corresponding to the predetermined distance to the next continuous parallel row of stitches to be sewn, and means for reversing the operation of the sewing machine and feed dogs.
 2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein means are included for lifting the feed dogs of the sewing machine when it is reversing and means are provided for lowering the feed dogs once the carriage has been advanced to the next stitch line and the machine reversed.
 3. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the frame includes a working table and a subframe spaced below the working table and the sewing machine is mounted on the working table longitudinally thereof.
 4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein the subframe includes a pair of parallel tracks lying longitudinally and the supporting carriage is adapted for controlled movement in the first axis by said power means for shifting the carriage, the carriage also comprises a portion thereof, which is adapted for friction-free movement parallel to the second axis relative to the tracks and includes a platform extending over the working table in cooperation with the sewing machine.
 5. An apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein drive means are provided for advancing the supporting carriage in the first axis direction, while said portion thereof is adapted for substantially friction-free movement parallel to the second axis in response to the force of the feed dogs of the sewing machine.
 6. An apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein the portion of the workpiece-supporting carriage which is adapted for movement parallel to the second axis mounts a hinged workpiece-retaining member adapted to retain the workpiece in a position with suitable tension for receiving the reciprocating needle and the feed dogs of the sewing machine and transmit the reaction from the feed dogs to the carriage.
 7. An apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein there is provided a first electrical valve-operated motor mounted on the frame and lever on the sewing machine adapted to reverse the operation of the machine wherein the means for reversing the operation of the sewing machine includes first and second limit switches on the frame a gate mounted on the carriage which is adapted for movement parallel to the second axis, the gate is adapted to trip the limit switches the gate being adjusted to a position on the carriage relative to the limit switches which corresponds to a predetermined point in a row of stitches of the predetermined pattern on the workpiece; the thus tripped limit switches allowing an electrical signal to activate the electrical valve-operated motor mounted on the frame to actuate the sewing machine reversing lever.
 8. An apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein means are provided for lifting the feed dogs on the sewing machine when the operation of the machine is being reversed, said means including the second limit switch, a second electric valve-operated motor connected to the feed-dog-reversing lever, the second motor is operated by a signal from said second lImit switch.
 9. An apparatus as defined in claim 8 wherein the means for advancing the carriage along said first axis includes a third electrically operated motor, a unidirectional means intermittently activated by the third electrical valve-operated motor, a track-engaging wheel mounted on the carriage adapted to engage the track, said third motor and unidirectional means driving said wheel; a limit switch which is triggered by the said first-mentioned valve-operated motor, said latter limit switch being adapted to control the operation of the second electrical valve operated motor.
 10. An apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein a limit switch is provided between the carriage and the frame and is adapted to be contacted at a predetermined advance position of the carriage along the first axis, the gates are solenoid-operated gates which reciprocate in a direction substantially perpendicular to the second axis in order to effect the reversal of the sewing machine, the solenoid gates are operated by a current received through the limit switch which has been closed or opened by the advancing movement of the supporting carriage along the first axis.
 11. An apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein opposed pairs of said first and second limit switches are arranged in a quadrant, a pendulum rod is suspended from the table centrally of the quadrant formed by the limit switches, said rod adapted to be tripped by said gates said switches are adapted to be contacted by said pendulum when said pendulum is tripped by one of the gates. 